Process of separating sugar-cane into its two chief structural parts.



. cellulose of the character contained in sugarv simplicity such as is readily UNITED STATES PATENT OFFiCE.'

GEORGE BARRETTYMCMIULLEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINGI'S, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN; MENTS, TO ZALMON G. SIMMONS, OE KENOSHA, WISCONSIN, ANDREW W. PRESTON, OF SWAMPSCOTT, MASSACHUSETTS, AND BRADLEY W. PALMER, 0F BOSTON, MASSA- GHUSETTS, 'riwsrnns.

PROCESS OF SEPARATING SUGAR-CANE INTO ITS TWO CHIEF STRUCTURAL PARTS.

No Drawing.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE MULLEN, a'citi'zen of the United States, re-

siding at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain (new and useful Improvements in Processes of Separating Sugar Cane into Its Two Chief Structural Parts, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates" to an improved process of separating sugar cane'into its two chief'structural par-ts, viz: separating the pith cell structure from the woody'sliell and fibro-vascular structure, and reducing these two separated portions into new products used for making sugar and other products.

Among the salient objects of the invention are to provide a method whereby an ex tremely eflicient and commercially cheap mechanical separation of the two chief structural' portions of'tli e sugar-cane may be eifected; to provide a process wliich enables the resultingseparated products to be dried-somewhat. more economically in certain types of apparatus than could be done were-they not so, separated, and at the same time lessens theliabilityi of deterioration of the products while drying; to gprovidexa process which while placing the sugar-cane in such condition 'thatsubstantially the en: tire 100% of sugar contained therein may be extracted, at the same t-ime and as a result of the sugar extraction, leaves the two by-products in ideal conditionfor commercial use for; any of the purposes for which cane is useful;'to provide a process which may be carried out by the use of extremely simple, and low-costmechanism, very rapidly, and in the immediate vicinity where the cane is produced, thus 'enabling the crop to-be converted into condition for indefinite preservation rapidly and while it is in prime condition, and .making it feasible to -trans--.

port the products minus the Water to factories located at'adistance; to provide a] formed by e e -i e r an a med a e-fi e Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 7, 1909. -Seria1Ro 500,499.

BARRETT Mo- 7 remain upon the screens-iaqhlsg s'trated the fact t-hat-ithe shreddin opera- Patented Oct. 8, 1912.

suitable for treating sugar-caneand analogous plants.

In carrying out my improved process, the first step, after the cane-has been stripped, cut aiidbrought in, as usual, is to shred the same'to a finely divided condition in which the shell portions and the fibro-vascular portions are in the form of fine filaments, and

the pith is disintegratedso that it exists intermingled with the filamentary shreds in particles somewhat resembling wet sawdust. This shredding operation I have carried on with great success by the use of a machine in principle like that shown in Patent- No.

813,300" granted to J. 7. Hyatt February 20, 1906. Of course, .there may be other suitable -.1nechanism for performing this shredding. The striking discovery which underlies this invention is the fact that this -mass of shredded filamentary shell and disfibre-vascular portions on the other, by a simple screening or sifting operation. I

discovered that ii -this shredded material be taken promptly after it has been shredded, e beforeit has dried or massed together,

and befpassed over a screen or series oi.

screens which are sharply agitated andof suitable mesh, pract-icallyaall ,0 he pith particles will pass through th practically all of the filame tion had effected a practically, complete tearing loose or mechanical separation of the pith from the Woody fibers. If the screening-or shifting operation be repeated through a plurality of screens of suitable mesh, theseparation may be made so'perfect that what remains of the filamentary or woody fiber in the pith, and vice versa what remains 'of. the pith inlthe woody fiber are percentages so' low as to be negligible for all-practical purposes to which these *cellulose; products haveQ-been thus tar utilized. The degree of separation or concentration of the respective fractions is such as may be attained by screening under the described conditions, and should be adequate to secure over the the adva ntagcs herein pointed out. For effecting this screening separation I prefer. to use ordinary wire screens of suitable mosh; preferably using a series or gang of screens of siictx-ssiw-ly liner mesh. through which the product is si'l'jted. The screens are arranged to be ad. ated by shaking laterally in a well-unit tood manner, and are inf-lined that. the lih'inientary fiber passes cen and is discharged at one end ,1: the pith material passes th. The operation of screening may he pi: nn-d Ly a suiialz'ly organized screen ing machine, wry rapidly, and at an insignificant expense. It will be obvious that such screening opcratii'in will in no wise impair the product 1" rsugar making or tend ta:- change it chcn'iically. I have ascertained and deinonstratcd, however, that the two products thus scpa'irnted can be more expo ditionsly and economically dried in certain types of drying apparatus when thus separated than can be done where the mass is dried wit-limit separation. One reason for: 15 that the two 1nater1als,

this undoubtc (WV l i i to their dil'fcrcnt character, may be handled more: uniformly in being passed urn-r oi the type oelow referred separately, and again it will through to when i: be obvious that the filamentary shreds will form n more porous and permeable mass when separated ilmn when mingled with the pith. and accordingly the drier will handie a ih'v time, and in this way expedite the drying.

As regards the pith particles, which when separated much resemble wetsawdust, the. said drier may be arranged so as to elfec't; a more thorough tumbling and exposure ofthe particles to the hot air, so that it turns out that this product can also bemo'r'e rap-l idly dried when separated than when min'-' Inas gled with the filamentary material. much as thr-v sugar is the most valuable prod.- uct soughh-il is iuujuirtantthat the drying be so conducted that the full sugar content shall. be preserved in the shredded material uninvertcd. To this cud the drying is preferably conducted at a temperature in the material being dried ranging from 100 to i i'alirci'ihcit, and conducted under such conditions that the moisture-laden vapor is ltlltll'ziWIl from .lho drying material pracally as fast as formed. in :i pending ap- F .iition tiled hf, Georgi: ll. i\li.'i\lullen, Serial No. 413311. rilwl A ril ,7. 1.908, there is wt torth and one form of apparatus which -lliizl f lt' 'l'or (.lrying both of tlnsc minoruin. pri'n'lncls.

'i'h llnl ml'lniu'c otgmy discovery that the tun "lllt-i s!rurturnlpnris oi the sugar-cane can iii. 1 nus ctl'w-iuullyseparated as hercinbefol-i: (ltnCl'llllihdF not. to be underestimated,

sheetor larger quantity ata.

extent the pith from the shells.

The resulting products can be extracted and the sugar recovered by diilusion somewhat iorc rapidly when they are treated separately than when mixed. Another and more important adwintugc, however, is that the extracted r'-.cllulose rcsidm is in ideal condition for converting into pulp for paper making or other uses. These advantages are obviously secured whether the concentration precedes or follows the. drying. Many attempts have been made, and much experimentation carried on, with a View of successfully making paper and analogous products from sugar-cane and cornstalks; these two plants presenting some analogies as regards their fiber. It has been demonstrated. and is now well understood, that the ultimate fiber derived from the pith, and that derived from the shell and fibro-rascular parts of the plant, are of entirely distinct charactel-sand quite inharm'onious qualities. That is to say, the pith cell fibers tend under ordinary conditions of manufacture to mat together, forming a hard, brittle, parchmentlike paper, Whereas the shell fiber is of long filamentary character and produces a soft, tough paper. So different in character are these two products that Where the attempt has been made to make paper from av mixture of the two kinds of cells,the pith cells and the filamentary cells,-either in the natural proportions which will obtain in the plant, or in very much less proportions of one than the other. the paper invariably possesses a hard, undesirable, brittle character, which makes it commercially of small value. To illustrate, cornstalks and bagasse have been run through so-called depithing machines, which slitted and scraped the stalks, there-by separating to a considerable Nevertheless the partially separated products thus secured did not produce good paper because of the imperfect; separation and other causes. So also cornstalks andbagasse have been chemically cooked to disintegration, and then the two kinds of cells separated to a more or less degree by washing and. screening the pulpy mass. Promising results have been thus secured, butthe expense has been great and the process slow By my present improwment the objections of imperfect separation, tediousncss of operation and cost of operation are disposed of. Moreover, the resulting extracted shredded products produced in accordance wit-h my invention are not only in ideal condition as regards thoroughness of separationof the 'pith from the shell fiber, but. the sugar has been extracted practically to a perfect degree, and because of this fact another of the serious diificulties heretofore incident to the making of paper from bagnssc is wholly ehminrted. That is to say, it has been found that whereanyconsidcrahle percentage of sugar re- .Borrection in Letters Patent No. 1,040,559.

mains in the fiber when it is subjected to chemical treatment, the strong chemical necessary to eii'ect disintegration carbonizes the sugar, producing minute carbon or carbonaceous specks, which discolor the product plant to fine shreds and then completing the separation by a screening or shifting operation and separately collecting the two parts.

2' The process of separating sugar-cane undricd and containing its natural sugar juices into its two chief structural parts viz. the pith and the woody fibers, which consists in shredding the plant mechanically to a mass composed of pith particles and fine filaments of woodyfiber, then compltand sepamg the separation by screenin rating that which goes throng the screen from that which goes over or-is retained upon the'screen.

3. The process of separating matured sugar-cane into its two chief structural parts viz. the pith and the Woody fibers, which consists in passing the stalks through shredders whereby they are reduced to a mass in which the pith exists in sawdust- [SEAL] like particles and the Woody fiber exists iii fine filamentary shreds, then completing the separation by passing the .niixture through and over a series of graded screens, and separatelycollecting the two parts, the sugar cane still retaining-its natural sugar content after the separation.

4. The improved process of cou'verting sugar cane, which consists in first shredding the cane into a condition in which the pith is reduced to relatively finesawdustdike particles and the Woody constituents to relatively 'fine excelsior-like filaments and particles, both of which came constituents retain their su ar contents in he uninverted and uncontaminated'oonditicn of nature, thereafterboth drying to a permanently stable condition and'separating the two constituents, the drying being effected artificially under controlled conditions which preclude any substantial inversion pf sugar and reduces the products to a stably dry condition and the separation being accomplished by sifting, whereby two separatied products are produced, each stably dry, each impregnated with sugar in its natural uncontaminated condition and each concentrated with refere'nce to the plant structural partscharacteristic of the other product.

m BARRETT MCMULLEN.

ltis hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,040,559, granted October 8, 1912, upon the application of George Barrett McMullem of Chicago, Illinois, for an 4 improvement in Processes of Separating Sugar-Cane In to lt s Two Chief Structural Parts, an error appears in the printed specification requiring correction as follows: Page 1, line 92, and page 3, line 16, for the word shifting read sifiz'ng; and that the said Letters Patent should be read withthis correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Ofliel, I

Signed and sealed this 10th day of December, A. D., 1912.

C. C. BILLINGS Acting Commissioner of Patents .Borrection in Letters Patent No. 1,040,559.

mains in the fiber when it is subjected to chemical treatment, the strong chemical necessary to eii'ect disintegration carbonizes the sugar, producing minute carbon or carbonaceous specks, which discolor the product plant to fine shreds and then completing the separation by a screening or shifting operation and separately collecting the two parts.

2' The process of separating sugar-cane undricd and containing its natural sugar juices into its two chief structural parts viz. the pith and the woody fibers, which consists in shredding the plant mechanically to a mass composed of pith particles and fine filaments of woodyfiber, then compltand sepamg the separation by screenin rating that which goes throng the screen from that which goes over or-is retained upon the'screen.

3. The process of separating matured sugar-cane into its two chief structural parts viz. the pith and the Woody fibers, which consists in passing the stalks through shredders whereby they are reduced to a mass in which the pith exists in sawdust- [SEAL] like particles and the Woody fiber exists iii fine filamentary shreds, then completing the separation by passing the .niixture through and over a series of graded screens, and separatelycollecting the two parts, the sugar cane still retaining-its natural sugar content after the separation.

4. The improved process of cou'verting sugar cane, which consists in first shredding the cane into a condition in which the pith is reduced to relatively finesawdustdike particles and the Woody constituents to relatively 'fine excelsior-like filaments and particles, both of which came constituents retain their su ar contents in he uninverted and uncontaminated'oonditicn of nature, thereafterboth drying to a permanently stable condition and'separating the two constituents, the drying being effected artificially under controlled conditions which preclude any substantial inversion pf sugar and reduces the products to a stably dry condition and the separation being accomplished by sifting, whereby two separatied products are produced, each stably dry, each impregnated with sugar in its natural uncontaminated condition and each concentrated with refere'nce to the plant structural partscharacteristic of the other product.

m BARRETT MCMULLEN.

ltis hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,040,559, granted October 8, 1912, upon the application of George Barrett McMullem of Chicago, Illinois, for an 4 improvement in Processes of Separating Sugar-Cane In to lt s Two Chief Structural Parts, an error appears in the printed specification requiring correction as follows: Page 1, line 92, and page 3, line 16, for the word shifting read sifiz'ng; and that the said Letters Patent should be read withthis correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Ofliel, I

Signed and sealed this 10th day of December, A. D., 1912.

C. C. BILLINGS Acting Commissioner of Patents 

